If you asked Emanual "EJ" Brooks to give his definition of the word fight, the words he may use to describe it may be entirely different than any words you or I may choose. For him, fighting has been a way of life since the day he was born in an East St. Louis, Illinois hospital to a 14 year old mother . Having a father that lived a dangerous lifestyle meant not much time spent together and left EJ, his two brothers and a sister to fend for themselves. This independent fighting mentality carried on with Brooks into his teenage years where he would take any challenge head on and discovered a love for sports, particularly aggressive ones.
Although Brooks made the varsity team in three separate sports in his freshman year at Cahokia High School, it was in wrestling that he found his true passion and stood above the crowd. He met his first mentor who would change his life and point him in a new direction and open his eyes to a whole new possibility for the youth.
"My high school wrestling coach Khris Whelan was a multi-time National wrestling champion. At age 17 he was an Olympic alternate for the U.S. GRECO ROMAN wrestling team. He told me my freshman year that he had not seen a kid with my talent in years and that if I stuck with wrestling I could be good enough to earn a scholarship and go to college."
Having sparingly heard such words of encouragement, Brooks latched on to what he felt would be his only chance escape his dangerous neighborhood and pursue his childhood dream of becoming a professional sports champion.
"I stuck with wrestling and became a high school all state wrestler in Illinois in 2004, made the Illinois national team and was a high school All-American earning a scholarship to Lincoln College. At Lincoln, I won a national title as a 19 year old freshmen."
Brooks would later transfer to Missouri University where he met wrestling stand-out and a recent idol of his by the name of Tyron Woodley.
The pair hit it off and Woodley took Brooks under his wing to fine tune his skills. After Woodley graduated he began MMA training and made the call to Brooks to come see what he was doing in an MMA Gym in St. Louis called St. Charles MMA. There EJ met his current coach Mike Rogers and after a few months of intense MMA training Brooks was ready to step into the real cage to test his luck. Since then EJ has bulldozed through six opponents in and hasn't looked back. Even with his humble background EJ "The Pretty Boy" Brooks carries a level of confidence that borderlines cockiness that flows out in his interviews and fights. "I'm 6-0 in MMA all wins in dominating fashion. I've never lost a round, wasn't hit in 3 fights, never been hit more than 4 times in a fight, former Mid-West Fight league Lightweight champion and MOST Importantly...I still look good after All my fights.." he says with a cheesy smile.
Currently Brooks has a full time position with the Southern Illinois School District where he works with Special needs children. He is also a High School Assistant Wrestling Coach and helps educating youths and hopes to help them achieve their goals to become athletes and future businessmen, and says their drive helps to keep him pushing for his own goals.
"I've been a champion on The State level and College Level of wrestling. I've even won a Amateur MMA title, but that is not enough. I m still hungry and its time for a new title run. I want the SportFightX belt more than I want to stay pretty, and that's pretty darn bad."
He faces Atlanta native and Chicago based Eric Kriegermeier in the first round of the 2010 REDLINE 155 Grand Prix which features eight undefeated fighters battling it out for the SportFight X Championship belt.
REDLINE 155 Grand Prix Fighter Spotlight: EJ Brooks
Although Brooks made the varsity team in three separate sports in his freshman year at Cahokia High School, it was in wrestling that he found his true passion and stood above the crowd. He met his first mentor who would change his life and point him in a new direction and open his eyes to a whole new possibility for the youth.
"My high school wrestling coach Khris Whelan was a multi-time National wrestling champion. At age 17 he was an Olympic alternate for the U.S. GRECO ROMAN wrestling team. He told me my freshman year that he had not seen a kid with my talent in years and that if I stuck with wrestling I could be good enough to earn a scholarship and go to college."
Having sparingly heard such words of encouragement, Brooks latched on to what he felt would be his only chance escape his dangerous neighborhood and pursue his childhood dream of becoming a professional sports champion.
"I stuck with wrestling and became a high school all state wrestler in Illinois in 2004, made the Illinois national team and was a high school All-American earning a scholarship to Lincoln College. At Lincoln, I won a national title as a 19 year old freshmen."
Brooks would later transfer to Missouri University where he met wrestling stand-out and a recent idol of his by the name of Tyron Woodley.
The pair hit it off and Woodley took Brooks under his wing to fine tune his skills. After Woodley graduated he began MMA training and made the call to Brooks to come see what he was doing in an MMA Gym in St. Louis called St. Charles MMA. There EJ met his current coach Mike Rogers and after a few months of intense MMA training Brooks was ready to step into the real cage to test his luck. Since then EJ has bulldozed through six opponents in and hasn't looked back. Even with his humble background EJ "The Pretty Boy" Brooks carries a level of confidence that borderlines cockiness that flows out in his interviews and fights. "I'm 6-0 in MMA all wins in dominating fashion. I've never lost a round, wasn't hit in 3 fights, never been hit more than 4 times in a fight, former Mid-West Fight league Lightweight champion and MOST Importantly...I still look good after All my fights.." he says with a cheesy smile.
Currently Brooks has a full time position with the Southern Illinois School District where he works with Special needs children. He is also a High School Assistant Wrestling Coach and helps educating youths and hopes to help them achieve their goals to become athletes and future businessmen, and says their drive helps to keep him pushing for his own goals.
"I've been a champion on The State level and College Level of wrestling. I've even won a Amateur MMA title, but that is not enough. I m still hungry and its time for a new title run. I want the SportFightX belt more than I want to stay pretty, and that's pretty darn bad."
He faces Atlanta native and Chicago based Eric Kriegermeier in the first round of the 2010 REDLINE 155 Grand Prix which features eight undefeated fighters battling it out for the SportFight X Championship belt.